Counseling and Personal Development
Graduates should have the personal skills necessary to relate effectively with students as individuals.
Specifically, students should be able to...
- Assess the developmental and personal needs of individual college students
- Make positive contributions to the personal development and learning of individual students
- Assist students in accessing and utilizing a wide range of services and programs designed to benefit them
Over the course of this past year I have been privileged to be involved in the H.I.S. Years program. H.I.S. stands for Hearing Investing Serving and is a ground breaking program that Azusa Pacific University offers to graduates. The program selects, trains, equips, mobilizes and supports participants who commit to serve two years in an unreached/least reached area of the world. In exchange participants receive financial assistance in paying back their student loans during their two years of service.
Within the program I serve as a mentor to one of the participants. The mentee I meet with is a young lady who is a senior at Azusa Pacific University and will be teaching English in South East Asia for two years starting this summer. This young lady and I meet once a week. Our discussions range in content and length, but throughout the year we have covered areas such as spiritual development, mental preparedness, financial planning, communication, expectations, personal development, and identity development.
While this young lady is serving in South East Asia we will continue communication on a regular basis through email, phone calls, Skype, and a hopeful visit.
The H.I.S. Years student I mentor
College Director
As part of my education in Student Development I served as a College Director at a small church in the Los Angeles area for approximately 1 year. I have also served as a high school youth leader at two churches for a cumulative 8 years, with 1 of those years being served as a paid member of staff as the Student Ministries Assistant. My leadership role with adolescents and young adults requires me to have an ability to counsel students and provide them with input and resources that allow them to grow in a holistic manner.
As a youth leader and college director I have had hundreds of intimate and spiritually charged conversations with students and parents over issues such as depression, suicide, sexuality, date rape, teen pregnancy, faith development, discipline issues, parenting, respect, college choice, career choice, missions, student development, risk assessment, justice, and relationships. These conversations have challenged me to always be available to listen and be slow to speak. I take great joy in the fact that these students choose to share their lives with me. My goal in any of these conversations is to be a listening ear and an advocate.
Youth ministry students after an intense game of broomball
As the Global Relief Graduate Assistant I oversee the Global Relief Student Program Coordinator. As part of my oversight, I meet with the Global Relief Student Program Coordinator once a week to discuss upcoming events, work agenda, expectations, problems and/or concerns in the work environment. During our meetings I always attempt to initiate the conversation with time for the student to share about how life is for them in regards to school, roommates, family, etc. I thoroughly enjoy spending time with the students I supervise in this type of environment and I have found that these intentional conversations really allow me to get to the heart of student behavior in the workplace.
Me & Jena getting ready for an intense game of Lazer Tag
